AOL will continue to hold a significant patent portfolio of over 300 patents AOL has entered into a definitive agreement to sell over 800 of its patents and their related patent applications to Microsoft, it said Monday.The sale of patents and a non-exclusive license to its retained patent portfolio will fetch the company over US$1 billion in cash, AOL said.Ailing AOL has been trying to sell its patents to raise cash, and the deal with Microsoft reflects growing interest from technology companies to acquire patent portfolios both to counter and deter patent litigation. Facebook for example acquired 750 patents from IBM last month, as the company battles Yahoo in court in a patent dispute. After the sale, AOL will receive a license from Microsoft to the patents it has sold. It will also continue to hold over 300 patents and patent applications spanning core and strategic technologies, it said.AOL did not disclose what were the patents it had sold, or in which technology areas. The deal was finalized after a competitive auction. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of this year, depending on regulatory approvals, including antitrust regulations. John Ribeiro covers outsourcing and general technology breaking news from India for The IDG News Service. Follow John on Twitter at @Johnribeiro. John’s e-mail address is john_ribeiro@idg.com Related content opinion For July, Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday update fixes four zero-day flaws This month’s Patch Tuesday release includes 132 fixes with a big focus on Microsoft SQL Server. By Greg Lambert Jul 12, 2024 10 mins Windows Security Microsoft Windows news EU accuses X/Twitter of breaching the Digital Services Act Preliminary findings from an investigation that began last year allege DSA non-compliance, with substantial penalties possible. The move is a wakeup call for organizations governed by the act. By Lynn Greiner Jul 12, 2024 3 mins Regulation Government Technology Industry news brief Open AI has developed a scale to assess how close we are to AGI At the moment, today's AI models are judged to be at level one out of five. But artificial general intelligence could be closer than you think. By Viktor Eriksson Jul 12, 2024 2 mins Generative AI news brief Now Microsoft Copilot can understand your handwriting The new feature can also turn handwritten notes into editable text. By Viktor Eriksson Jul 12, 2024 1 min Generative AI Microsoft Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe